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offBEAT with Mary Lambert

Singer, songwriter, poet, role model, Mary Lambert is one talented individual. Teaming up with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis on their The Heist track "Same Love," Mary has launched herself into her own solo career bringing forth her beautiful and emotionally-charged music.

This past year brought her two Grammy nominations, and she even got to perform at the iconic awards show with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - alongside Madonna - in one of the most talked about performances of the night.

Mary's fans know how bubbly and infectious her personality is. You can tell just by reading her blog. But Mary gave us a taste when she stopped by the iHeartRadio Studios recently to talk to us about keeping warm, Bill Nye The Science Guy, being a Starbucks barista and more - basically everything BUT the music.

Check out OffBEAT with Mary Lambert below.

How do you keep warm?

Well my mom crocheted me an Afghan when I was in high school before I graduated, and I had just come out and I was like "I want it to be a rainbow Afghan!" So there’s this really thick rainbow Afghan that I have in my house.

What is the age of your body?

My actual body I think is, I feel like it’s accurately 24. I think so, I still got it. I think I have a cute butt and I have a really great rack and I can still break a sweat when I work out, and I go dancing!

What makes old ladies cool?

Old ladies are cool because they give no f**ks. They get to do whatever they want so if you were always a nice person, and now you’re a nice old lady then you’re sweet and you can make people cookies whenever you want cause you’re old. But then if you are crotchety and a jerk lady, old lady, then you can just cross the street whenever you want and no one gives – like you can tell people to get up off of their seats. And old ladies are cool because they’ve also lived a lot, so they have a lot to offer as far as experience. So I think that’s cool.

(Laughs) I love Ed Sheeran! Well he and I sang together in Buffalo and he’s just been very nice to me, and very kind to me, and I got a sneak peak of his record and he’s just incredible. He’s very talented and he’s like one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

How do you celebrate Ed Sheeran day?

(Laughs) Umm I don’t know you just declare it, and then it exists, and then you put red paint in your hair, and then you tell all little girls to scream at you.

The first time I met Ed, we went to a casino and I got really drunk, and I don’t know if Ed was drunk but that’s okay, that’s beside the point. But what happened is that Mackelmore was out too, so we were all out, there was a whole crew of us. So we went on to the bus and Ed was like "I wanna play you my new record." And I was like "cool," and then it’s so beautiful that I was just sobbing throughout the entire thing. And Mackelmore was just holding me, so that was my night!

Did you guys gamble?

Yeah! Ed lost like $600. I won. My favorite game was Fireball cause it yells “Fireball” and then you get to play five little slots. It’s amazing and they were mostly playing roulette and everybody lost money except for me. I won on my second pull. And so I was like, I’m quitting while I’m ahead cause I made $150, then I walked away.

On your blog, you said you just discovered jeggings. So ... what are your thoughts?

Well I wore them for like three days straight, and I was like "eh," they’re kind of constricting. The jeggings were not comfortable enough. I feel weird in them cause I feel like everybody’s judging me. I like wearing skinny jeans that are super stretchy and they’re more incognito. Jeggings are just straight up just like "this b***h just like woke up and put different kind of stretch pants on," but like jeans, stretchy jeans are a little bit more like "you made an effort."

How did you celebrate the Seahawks Super Bowl win?

I was on a plane. You know what I did do though, when I was in the airport I was wearing, I noticed everybody in Seattle was wearing Seahawks gear, and I was like "oh my God I don’t even have a Seahawks jersey!" So I immediately went in and I bought a Seahawks shirt, and I was wearing it around. I’m like a football fan like thinking I was really cool and then I didn’t know that my layover was in Denver! And it was like a three hour layover too so I’m walking around the airport and my other clothes are in my other bag, and I was like "should I go buy a different shirt?" I’ve already changed shirts today. So I just sort of – my jacket was more of a cardigan, so it didn’t go all the way, so I looked like I was a very conservative lady the whole day.

What’s your favorite west coast slang word?

"Hella"

You once worked as a barista at Starbucks. Do you have any crazy Starbucks stories?

It’s mostly just like what people order and how they order. I remember this one guy that came in, cause I worked there for like a good three years I think. They also hired me as a musician which was super illegal and not allowed at all but I was like 14 – 13. I was 13 and I was like ready to be famous. I was like "Mom I’m ready I need an agent!" And then she was like "go to Starbucks, see if they’ll let you play." So I called them and then I had a show every Friday night, and I would just sit there. There was no mic, I just put my guitar case out for tips when I was 13. I was a good entrepreneur. And so they hired me when I became 16 and not as cute because I was punked out when I was 16, and like had on my bracelets and stuff whatever we used to do.

There was this guy that came in and he was like "I’d like a grande Americano, seven ice cubes." And I looked at him and I gave him this look, "you want seven ice cubes? Okay." I made the drink and then I put eight ice cubes in. I was like sabotage! I was like "this f***er got it, I showed him!"

What do you order at Starbucks?

It depends on the season but usually it’s a double tall soy, no whip, two pumps of white mocha. Cause I like it sweeter but not crazy sweet like they do with the white mocha. But I like there to be sugar in there, I like there to be a lot of coffee in there. I’m allergic to milk. Not like super allergic but my mouth swells up.

You also met Bille Nye this year – how was meeting him? Did you ever watch him in Elementary school? Did you sing that to him?

(Sings) "Bill Nye the science guy! Bill bill bill bill." No cause I’m sure he got it all the time but in my head I was like "should I do a cover of this tonight?" Cause he came to my show in L.A. – it was really awesome. He’s a Seattleite too and you know he’s really smart and he hasn’t aged. Who doesn’t age?! He looks like he just, I don’t know he looks great and man I loved that show. That show – that was an awesome show, they should really bring it back. Do they replay it? They should. I learned so much!

What do you want to learn this year?

I wanna learn balance this year on a serious note. My shows are really vulnerable and they’re really emotional, and take so much out of me. I’m talking about body image, and rape, and sexual abuse, and being bipolar and literally putting all of my guts on a stage, and then also sort of like being, you know, quirky and fun and like in the interim. So it’s already a rollercoaster of a ride, I’m sure it’s exhausting for the audience, it’s exhausting for me. And then to do a meet-and-greet afterwards or a meet-and-greet before, and then do signings after, and take photos and stuff, which I love. I love meeting the people that are supporting me so actively, but then if I go home and it’s like 2 a.m., and then I have a flight at 6 a.m. to go do another show, I’m not doing it right. I need to figure out how to make it work. So I’ve been putting some breaks on in terms of my schedule, and like really claiming space this year. I’m being assertive and I’m claiming space and I’m like "I cannot work these three days – I’m gonna be with my girlfriend" or "I’m gonna be in Seattle."

Tell us a secret?

I don’t have a sense of smell. I can’t smell. The house we lived in, I think we had black mold. I think it was really, really bad and so I was just always sick and then scar tissue built up in my nose, and now there’s just zero sensory. So I can’t smell anything. That’s why I drink mint tea. I can’t have regular tea cause it just tastes like hot water. But like mint tea – cause mint has an aftertaste and you can breathe it.

Can you taste food?

Yeah I can, it’s just not as strong as everybody else. I think that’s what I imagine, cause I’m huge of texture, and I think I’m figuring out. My girlfriend's been doing this thing where she’ll eat things regular and then she’ll plug her nose when she eats something and then she’ll go “oh s**t” or ”it tastes so different I can’t taste it as well” and I’m such a stickler on texture, it has to have a really good texture.